Third Sunday in Lent

Sermon text:  Isaiah 55:1-5

Early on in my years of ministry, working with youth gave me the opportunity to do some pretty interesting things ... everything from mission trips to ski trips; going to about every theme part in the country; visiting nursing homes and jails; sleeping and showering in places I would have never dreamed of being; eating food I myself would have never tried ... rattlesnake at an Indian Reservation in the southern desert of Arizona. It’s this eating of food I want to mention today that turned out to be a lesson in spirituality for our group from Akron. … Read full sermon here (PDF).

Second Sunday in Lent

Sermon text: Luke 13:31-35

Throughout the season of Lent I will be inviting you to examine your hearts: how you live your lives, how you make decisions, how your relationship with God in Christ is growing, how you love one another and the world and show the world that the grace of God is for them. I want to make you think, react, reflect, change, while at the same time challenging myself in all those areas. I want us to grow in healthy ways. So, just as you and I have our yearly visit to the docs ... this is our YEARLY HEART EXAMINATION!  

Luke seems to have a time fetish. Everywhere you turn in his gospel, you find him referring to what time it is. ... Read full sermon here (PDF).

First Sunday in Lent

Sermon text: Luke 4: 1-13

For years now, as I’ve worked on sermons for the five Sundays prior to Holy Week, I’ve come up with all kinds of sermon series ideas related to the purpose of Lent. This year is no exception, but I believe that maybe I’ve hit on something that truly gets to the “heart” of what we are to be doing as we prepare for the celebration of Easter: LENT ... A YEARLY HEART EXAMINATION.  Over the next five weeks I will be inviting you to examine your hearts: how you live your lives, how you make decisions, how your relationship with God in Christ is growing, how you love one another and the world and show the world that the grace of God is for them. I want to make you think, react, reflect, change, while at the same time challenging myself in all those areas. I want us to grow in healthy ways.  So, just as you and I have our yearly visit to the docs ... this is our YEARLY HEART EXAMINATION! … Read full sermon here (PDF).

Sermon text: 2 Corinthians 3:12 – 4:2

EXPOSED ... HOW EMBARRASSING IS THAT! I’m not talking about the choir being completely “exposed” for the first time ... for the entire service, but how apropos is that? I planned this sermon back in early January and had no idea that they would be moving down on this Sunday.  But they are truly exposed ... look at them, watch them, they’ve got to behave now. No more filing the nails, sleeping, passing notes to one another, etc. You’re exposed! But no ... that’s not what I’m talking about today. … Read full sermon here (PDF).

Sermon text: Jeremiah 1:4-10 & Luke 4:21-30

Beliefs Matter. Can we all agree upon that? WHAT you believe about something makes a difference in how you live your life. ... Read full sermon here (PDF).

Sermon text: Isaiah 1:11-20 & John 4:19-26

What is real worship anyway?  Here we sit ... on blue chairs ... devoid of most the reminders of worship. No hymnbooks or BOB (Best of the Best). Not even the pew Bible. The beauty of our magnificent windows has been replaced by institutional grey walls. No organ music. The cross ... the central symbol of our worship here at Lakewood ... stands over in the sanctuary where the dust is thick. The choir has been relegated to sitting amongst the common folk. No communion table or baptismal. No pulpit or lectern. What is real worship anyway? ... Read full sermon here (PDF).

Sermon text: Acts 4:32-37; 9:26-27 & 11:20-26

We moved into our house in April of 2004. Greeting us on our front lawn was a big pink flamingo ... very attractive. A card was affixed that simply said: “Welcome to Lakewood. Barnabas.” WHO is Barnabas? That’s the question many of you have asked over the years. Somebody in this congregation or maybe multiple people within this church family has taken on the identity. How many of you have received a card or a gift from Barnabas? Could it be one of the “Barn”-wells? WHO is Barnabas? Are YOU Barnabas? (By the way, another member of the congregation informed us that we should probably move the flamingo to the backyard ... it looked rather tacky out front.) ... Read full sermon here (PDF).

Sermon text: Matthew 16: 6-12 & Matthew 25: 14-18

As we begin another New Year and another New Decade, let me share a story from Elie Wiesel’s largely autobiographic novel, entitled The Town Beyond the Wall. In the novel, Elie has a young Jew named Michael, who survived the Holocaust, going back behind the Iron Curtain to his Hungarian hometown. Memories play hop scotch as he remembers how he was brutalized and how those he loved were killed. Yet, his visit is more for curiosity, not revenge. What gave Michael great pain kind of surprised him. It wasn’t his memory of those who were brutalized and tortured, no, he remembered a Christian neighbor who always stood behind his curtains and peered through the window day after day, as thousands of Jews were herded into death trains. The thing that amazed Michael was that the man behind the curtain displayed no pity, no pleasure, no shock, not even anger or interest. He was simply impassive, cold and impersonal. ... Read full sermon here (PDF).